Infrastructure Minister João Galamba said on Tuesday that talks are continuing with trade union representatives of counter workers and CP revisions, expressing optimism that it will be possible to reach an agreement and avoid the strike.
When asked about news indicating that his ministry had already reached an agreement with the Sindicato Ferroviário de Revisão Comercial Itinerante (SFRCI), which only lacked the approval of Finance to close it, João Galamba did not confirm this, stating that negotiations are ongoing.
“I do not confirm this news at all. I do confirm that we are in talks, as we have always been with all unions, and specifically (the SFRI is) currently the last we can reach an agreement with, but we continue to believe and (we are) optimistic that it is possible to reach an agreement and avoid a strike,” said João Galamba.
The infrastructure minister spoke on the sidelines of a visit to the traffic control center (CCT) of Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), which operates on the site next to the 25 de Abril bridge, because it had to be “of the utmost importance” that it be possible to reach an agreement and avoid the strike that covers the period when Lisbon hosts World Youth Day (WYD).
The SFRCI planned a strike for the period between 00:00 on 21 July and 23:59 on 6 August, with CP warning of train disruptions, in all services, “with a possible impact on the day after the strike period, on 7 August”.
Minimum services for long-distance and regional trains have been defined for the days between July 31 and August 6, 2023.
On the other hand, the newspaper Público reported this Tuesday that the Spanish state rail operator Renfe plans to launch a new cross-border international service connecting Extremadura to Évora, citing that CP would have learned about this matter through the media. When asked about this matter, João Galamba said only that the government’s priority at the moment is to complete the connection between Évora and Elvas.
“The government’s main commitment at the moment is to terminate the connection between Évora and Elvas, without which no debate of this nature can take place,” he said, emphasizing that, as said, “once the conditions are met to allow the resumption of international connections, this must be done”.
At the end of the visit, João Galamba was also asked if it plans to exempt tolls on the 25 de Abril bridge in the month of August, after replying that this is a debate “that is not on the table at the moment”, with the government focusing on lowering tolls in the interior, and confirming that a plan will be presented soon in this area.
Source: DN
